Heroes of Olympus: Scales of War
by IndigoBlueButterfly
Summary: A child of Athena, Crystal is smart, calm, maybe just a little bit short tempered, and logical. A child of Mars, Alexander is loud, cocky, loyal and always ready to do battle and a lot more short tempered. Children of two war gods, their prophecy says that they will unite and form a war team the likes of which has never been seen before. Only problem, they hate each other. OCxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Crystal**

_The defendant pleads that it was not her intention to offend Sarah Hamilton by tugging her hair in such an unladylike fashion. The defendant states that she was, in all sincerity, merely attempting to assist Sarah Hamilton by pulling out a lump of Double Bubble bubblegum that was stuck in her hair. _

_She did not, in fact, imagine that, due to Ms. Hamilton's rude remarks about personal issues that the defendant would rather not mention, that she would become very angry, therefore causing the blonde's hair to light up with blue flames like a walking Bunsen burner. The action is believed to have been caused by a 'fire ring' the defendant was wearing at the time and is one of her numerous designs. Obviously it still needs some work. _

_The defendant is very sorry and does, in fact, concede that Sarah Hamilton's hair was much prettier than hers and is truly repentant of the fact that said girl will be forced to wear a hat until the singed hair grows back to its former glory. _

Crystal stared at the report page the school boarding house mistress had forced her to write. Her lips curved in an amused smile when she read through it again. Sometimes she couldn't believe herself and she let out a small laugh. Sarcasm and humour, two things she loved most in life. Excluding her father, although he wasn't around too often anymore.

She frowned when she thought of him. Where was he now? If the tour calendar she'd memorized earlier had been correct and her dad hadn't decided to change locations so suddenly like he usually did, they would be somewhere in northern California at the moment. Right now, there would be a bunch of construction workers hurriedly assembling the large tent that would house the crowd that would arrive later to watch him. He, for some reason, never had his demonstrations inside a building or hall. Didn't like them, he told her. It messed up the natural look and aura. She didn't get it, but apparently the fans loved it, so his judgement had to be right.

Her dad, Derek Knight. He wasn't much to look at really, she reasoned. He was pale, and kind of tall, with blue black eyes and a slender frame. Anyone who saw him would see him as a quiet, unassuming man. Kind of like a family doctor kind of person, or a friendly neighbourhood man who visited occasionally and gave sweets to kids. You wouldn't expect much from him.

But her father had proved time and time again that he had stage presence, and she was proud of him. She was proud that he commanded attention with just one flash of his midnight dark eyes and that his quiet, firm voice instilled a sense of respect in the listeners. She was incredibly proud that she had inherited those same eyes. Sadly she had not inherited his voice.

Her voice was quiet sure, but it commanded more fear than anything else. Or maybe that was just the way she spoke to her classmates at St Mary's Boarding School for Girls. With a name like that, she wondered why the girls weren't decked out in nun uniforms and clutching prayer books and rosaries.

The boarding school was a large, grey austere looking building on a cliff overlooking the sea. It looked more like an ancient cathedral than a school, which enforced the austereness. It was where her dad always sent her whenever he had to travel. It had become a second home to her in the sense that it was a place she could go to and they had to let her in. not that she _wanted _to be there. It was annoying being stuck with girls all the time, having them whining or gossiping or giggling over nonsense. The ones that weren't so bad, that she could've been friends with, were freaked out by her. By her eyes and her seemingly cold attitude towards people.

But that wasn't her fault. She was cynical by nature and realistic when it came down to things. More so than most teenage girls her age, she figured. And unlike the other girls, she didn't care too much about boys.

The boys that came over from the opposing school were just as irritating as the girls, maybe worse. Always flirting and showing off for the girls when they came for football games and activities. But one was a lot more annoying than the others.

Alexander Sanderson. Even though he caused so many of the other girls' hearts to beat faster with just one look, another reason they were annoying really, she didn't like him. He was far too loud, too cocky and too unserious for her tastes. Nope, she didn't like him.

Crystal stood, stretched and dropped the report letter into the letterbox beside the principal's door. Now that was done, maybe she could still catch the end of lunch. Today was pastrami day in the cafeteria. That was the only reason she liked the school: the food was good. And the dessert was even better.

As she turned the corner, Sarah Hamilton and two of her friends walked round the corner and nearly bumped into her. Crystal noticed that a large New York baseball cap now covered the burns and charred hair that had been visible before. She must have borrowed it from a teacher or someone with a very large head because it hung over one eye slightly and gave her a gangster look. Of course, the white anger in her eyes didn't help.

"You," she hissed. "You freak!"

Crystal held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry Sarah," she apologised genuinely. "I didn't mean to, you know…" she gestured at her hair. Sarah's eyes narrowed even more. Her teeth flashed as she bared them in a snarl. Crystal thought her teeth looked more like fangs when she did that.

Wait, hold the phone, her teeth _were_ fangs! The canines were elongating, sharpening until they stuck out of her mouth in a gruesome fashion. Her neck stretched and cracked one way, then another until it was at least three feet long. Her skin changed, turning from pink and flesh toned to a sickly shade of green. Her eyes turned yellow, she had no pupils. And her legs. Oh god…

Her legs had fused together, forming a long snake tail that stretched out behind her and glittered with scales. Sarah hissed evilly. Her voice had changed, going from that loud, whiny bratty voice that had made her want to slam her face into a wall, to one much more raspy and grating, like steel wool pads rubbing against glass. Torture.

"You," she hissed angrily. "You will pay demigod!" Behind her, her friends were undergoing the same change except the one on her left had blue scales and the other was red.

Crystal didn't stop to think or consider if this was some sort of elaborate dream, she just turned and ran. Not for the first time was she glad her father had made her try out for track team as a way to help with her ADHD. Although even though he was still confused as to how an ADHD teenager could have the patience to sit down and read through books like _Art of War_ and _Not Without My Daughter_.

She barrelled through a bunch of students and vaulted over a trash can one of them was carrying. "'Scuse me! Coming through! So sorry!"

"DIE DEMIGOD CHILD!"

This was not the first time this had happened to her. The first time that had happened was when she was ten and it had been her babysitter who had turned out to be a psychotic harpy with a penchant for eating demigods. Luckily she had been able to kill her with some ornamental gold knives she'd found in her dad's study.

Her tennis shoes squealed against the linoleum floor as she skidded to the right and kept running. While she still had one of the gold knives, she'd decided to keep one on her person at all times, it was still in her backpack in the classroom a floor up. She cursed angrily and glanced behind her. The snake ladies were gaining ground.

She made it to the stairs and almost slammed into someone coming down. Someone very familiar. "Alex?" What was he doing here? Did the words 'all-girl school' mean nothing anymore?

He arched an eyebrow. "Da one and only," he smirked. Damn him and that smirk and that tough, Brooklyn accent! One day she would devise a way to rip it off his face.

"DIE DEMIGOD!"

He glanced behind her. She winced, wondering if he could see what was going on. She'd discovered a long time ago that other people couldn't see the monsters. She wasn't sure what they saw, but they wouldn't be so calm if they knew what it really was.

Or maybe it was her. Maybe she was insane, as the school counsellor had tactfully implied the last time she went for a 'helpful talk' with her.

Or maybe not. To her surprise, Alex's eyes widened and he cursed as well. But unlike her, he didn't wait and didn't spare a glance to see if anyone else was there or to check what they saw. "Run!" He yanked her ahead of him and shoved her up the stairs. The two of them took off running. "What are those?" He yelled as they took the stairs two, sometimes three at a time. Luckily for them, the snake ladies couldn't climb the stairs very quickly as the no-limbs thing was kind of a disadvantage.

"Gorgons," she yelled back. "Sisters of Medusa!"

"Can they change people into rocks too?"

"No, that was just her! She was amazingly special that way!"

"Awesome!"

She mentally facepalmed. Why was he so stupid?

They made it to the upper floor where her classroom was, barrelling past student coming down, until they reached the science lab. She ran into the room and grabbed her backpack off the table. "What are you doing?" Alex stared at her after he kicked the door shut. The large, reinforced wood door would hold the gorgons for a while when they did reach the top of the stairs. He locked it behind him.

She ignored him, as was her custom, and pulled out two long, gold mechanical pencils with black writing going up the sides.

"Really?" His look was incredulous. She ignored him again and clicked the tops.

Immediately, the pencils shimmered and grew until she was holding two gold thin, razor sharp daggers. The handles were also gold, but a darker shade with the same matching runes going around them. The blades were a few inches shorter than her upper arms and tapered to a fine point at the top. She spun them expertly and flipped one 360o in the air and caught it. Then she turned to face him with an expectant look. "You were saying something?"

He looked astounded. She felt kind of pleased that she could surprise him, nothing seemed to really. But then he smirked. "Well done angel," he called her the annoying pet name he'd been calling her for years. She bristled instinctively. "But I gotta few tricks up my own sleeve."

He flicked his wrists a couple of times. He always wore two red armbands on them. One had weird designs on it in white while the other was blank. Her eyes widened as the fabric shimmered and extended up his arms, glowing bright scarlet until they formed dark red metal gauntlets. He slammed them both together, creating sparks. His matching dark, red brown eyes glinted happily. Like he was thinking,_ cool, I get to punch stuff now!_

She arched an eyebrow. "Okay then!"

"DEMIGODS, COME OUT!" They both jumped when something slammed against the door. The hinges splintered. "WE WILL CURSE YOU BOTH AND FEED ON YOUR ENTRAILS!"

"Charming," Crystal murmured mostly to herself. To them she said: "We'd rather not thanks!"

"We gotta get outta here," Alex examined the classroom. The teacher's desk was pushed close to the wall, near the old fashioned blackboard. The tables for the students were large and sat about four people. Racks and racks of bottles filled with various chemicals were on every table. On one of the tables was a long length of blue plastic fibre rope. The windows were glassless and open to the world and the sea air. He ran to one and looked down. "It's at least fifty feet down!"

Crystal looked around. Behind her, the pounding on the door got louder. She closed her eyes and scrunched up her forehead. _Can't…think…need to…_

Suddenly, it came to her. Just like that. It was as though a white canvas appeared in her mind and the plan was written on it with black marker, like an artist sketching a painting. Her eyes snapped open and she grinned. "I know how we're getting out of here!"

He looked sceptical, but he nodded. "How then angel?"

She ran to one of the tables and tossed him the rope, grinning at him sweetly. "How good are you at rock climbing?"


	2. Chapter 2

**I forgot to say this was an OCxOC story...sorry, but don't worry! There will be main characters! I love the main characters! I just wanted to input my characters as well and the only way to do that was create a prophecy that would do just that. So I did. I hope people still read this...**

**And I'm sorry about the Rachel thing, it was an accident, I like HazelxFrank! Besides, I don't even think Frank and Rachel met...did they? Ah well, sorry...**

**I don't own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan, that amazing writer does. **

**Chapter 2**

**Alexander**

The next time she claimed to have a plan, he wasn't going to buy it. That was what Alex thought as they scaled down the crumbling grey walls of the St Mary Boarding School for girls while hanging onto a plastic fibre rope with the crashing ocean below them. It would have been harder, really, but there were many footholds and grips where the bricks had fallen out.

He looked up at Crystal. The sea wind whipped her white blonde hair into a frenzy, which would have been difficult to see through had the majority of it not been packed into a ponytail. As he watched, she jerked her head to the side to shake off a loose strand.

"Why da hell is this place over the sea?" He yelled up at Crystal over the sound of the breaking waves. She turned and shot him an annoyed glare out of those large, dark blue eyes.

"I don't know!" She called back, the sarcasm thick in her voice. "Do you want to go back in time and ask whatever monk group lived here?"

He resisted the urge to grin, knowing it would only incense her more. He liked her sarcasm. He liked her, period. She was just so cute really, although not many people would think so. She had this serious, scarily calm aura that made people feel scared of her. Not to mention she hit people. But he knew she wasn't like that. He also knew that the sarcasm was a defence mechanism when she was terrified and didn't want it to show.

Truth be told, he had been confused when the first thing she did was run towards the racks of chemicals and begun measuring them into a beaker. When she was done, the resulting chemical was a violent glowing green and it was fizzing dangerously at the top of the beaker. She grinned and picked it up with a pair of tongs. Then she'd placed it at the door.

"I figure we've got about fifteen seconds before the gorgons break through the door and this thing goes off," she'd said with a shrug. True to word, a few seconds later the door had blown in and the beaker had exploded in a blaze of green fire, but by that time they were already climbing down.

She'd bought them some time. He wondered how much. An explosion like that would have dazed the gorgons, but they'd be up again and after them soon, and definitely more incensed.

He didn't have to wonder for long. When they were a few feet from the ground behind the gate, the rope gave a sudden jerk in their hands. He cursed again. Wow he was doing that a lot today. "They're up!"

The rope jerked again. Looking up, he caught sight of the three snake ladies - sorry, gorgons - hissing down at them through the window. As one raised a clawed hand, he looked down and gauged the distance between them and the ground. At least fifteen feet. "Crystal, let go of the rope!"

She gaped at him, probably wondering if the events of the day had made him go insane. Truthfully, he was wondering about that too. "Are you mad?"

"Let go of the rope!" The gorgon was slicing at the rope. "Trust me!" He held out his hand to her.

She pursed her lips, probably wondering what her obituary would look like, before releasing her grip on the rope and at the same time grabbing his outstretched hand. He let go as well and wrapped both arms around her body.

He could hear her screaming into his neck as they fell, but he just focused. His gauntlets felt warmer. Familiar heat curled in his chest and spread all over his torso. As the ground rushed up to meet them, he put his arm above his head. The gauntlet morphed and spread, becoming a large shield that was somewhat pointed in the centre, like a hollowed out arrow.

They broke through the edge of the cliff like a drill and pierced the water. The shock made him jerk and almost lose consciousness but he shook it off. Crystal was frozen, eyes wide and slightly panicked. The frigid water made his limbs and brain feel like lead. Shoals and groups of fish scattered when they broke the surface.

She snapped out of her shock and made to swim to the top, but he held her down and shook his head. They had to stay under until he was sure the gorgons weren't watching anymore. They would still be waiting to make sure the two of them hadn't survived, although a fall like that should have killed anyone. He was pretty sure even a demigod wouldn't have made it, whatever that was.

A few seconds later, when their lungs were burning and bursting for air, they kicked to the surface. Crystal took a deep breath and coughed a couple of times. Then she glared at him dully. "Because you did kind of save us, I will refrain from knocking your brains out for that."

He winked charmingly as the shield morphed back into gauntlets. "Sure thing angel!" They swam for a small bay that had a path that led to land since the place was a tourist attraction of a sort. Hey, you take a cliff with a fancy but sufficiently old building on it and bam! You got a tourist attraction. They like that kind of thing. Neither of them bothered looking at the school where the teachers and students were pouring out of like panicking ants. They just kept walking. As they walked, two police cars and a fire truck drove past without stopping.

"So…" she began when they had reached town. The road thinned. Restaurants and cafes stood side by side and opposite each other next to banks and office buildings. There weren't a lot of people since most were at work, but the few that were there gave them strange looks and hurried past. He wondered what the people around saw. Two kids, both wet through, wearing school uniforms and wielding weapons. Crystal stuffed her knives into her black and white laced high tops. He touched the gauntlets together at the knuckles and they turned back into armbands. He glanced at her when she continued hesitantly. "How did that…"

"I'm confused too," he shrugged. "For one, how long have ya been able ta see those things?"

"For a long time," she answered evasively and sighed. "Well, I guess now I have to call my dad. He'll have to find a school to take me in." She looked upset and he wanted to hug her, just a little. He quickly scrapped the thought. She would probably punch him in the eye.

He found them a phone booth near a traditional Italian restaurant. The fragrant smell of spices, cloves and ginger, wafted out along with the warm scent of freshly baked bread. He inhaled deeply and the scent reminded him of his mother's homemade cooking. He was Italian because of his mom, and because he denied anything to do with his father, who he didn't know and had never met. His mother preferred to cook proper Italian cuisine. Spaghetti bolognaise, pastas, pizzas and the like.

Thinking of his mom, he wondered how she was and whether she was alright. She'd decided to take a break from her work. She was an attorney and a fantastic one at that. She made sure justice was served. _Lack of justice,_ she'd told him the day before he left for school, just a week or so ago, _is the reason bad people can walk the streets freely. Because they think they are invincible. But I warn you son, justice must be served where it is due. _

Crystal slipped a coin into the slot and dialled a number. He stood outside and kept watch while thinking. After a moment she came back out and huffed. "He didn't answer. I left a message though." She slanted her eyes up at him suspiciously. "What about you?"

He didn't get a chance to answer her. Something made a sound that was somewhere between a scream, a whinny and a bellow. They whirled around and Alex's arms, already forming the metal gloves, slammed into a human face. He jumped back in shock as the creature leaped to its feet and he was able to take it in. From the waist up the body was human, but below that the guy was part palomino, as were the four others standing behind him. Their eyes were glittering and curved bull horns protruded out of their, strangely large, afros.

"I never understood that," he grunted. "Nice afro though," he commented louder. The centaur huffed and steam came out of his nose. Alex tried not to look too impressed.

"Duck and cover!" A voice yelled. They dropped without thinking and an arrow shot over their heads. The tip became a boxing glove and knocked out the centaur. They turned and gaped.

A guy and a girl were standing a few feet away. The girl had dark brown hair and copper coloured eyes while the guy was large and buff, but had a chubby, Chinese baby face. He was wielding a bow and was already loading another arrow.

Alex grunted. He wasn't about to get rescued by a chubby faced guy and a girl. He pushed Crystal behind him and punched an incoming centaur in the face. "Hey!" She snapped. "I can take care of myself!" To prove it, she ran out from behind him and sliced off the top of a centaur's hair.

He arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, if they want haircuts." Judging by the narrowing of her eyes she wasn't taking his quip well. That happened often. She vaulted onto the back of the centaur and proceeded to ride the bucking, kicking horse man into submission. He watched in admiration. She would make an excellent bull-rider. Finally she rode it into a vendor stand that stood a few feet away.

Silence reigned for a moment while the two groups stared at each other. Finally, Crystal spoke. "Again, I ask, how…"

"Hey, my shop!" A potbellied Italian man wearing an apron was running towards them and waving his fist. A stream of angry Italian obscenities spewed out of his mouth. Alex winced at the choice words being thrown their way.

"I think we should take this elsewhere," he suggested.

The buff panda kid nodded. "Follow us."

They led them between alleys until they were near the sea. Crystal skidded to a stop beside him and her mouth, which had been on the brink of falling open in shock, snapped shut. "Oh yeah, sure. There's a giant warship floating in the Mediterranean Sea. Not odd at all."

The bottom of the ship opened and they walked in. "Guys, you're back!" A disembodied voice greeted them cheerfully. "You won't believe how hard it was to convince coach Hedge that you hadn't been kidnapped. He wanted to organise an all out search/war party! And you'd only been gone ten minutes!"

"That's Leo," the girl explained. "He designed this ship." She smiled and offered a hand. "Sorry, I'm Hazel and this is Frank, my boyfriend."

Crystal smiled back. "Hey, I'm Crystal. The thin-guy beside me is Alex." They all shook hands.

"Come on, you might as well meet everyone!" Frank didn't look happy, but he didn't say anything while Rachel led them up to the main part of the ship. Alex noted the lack of weapons as they went up. No guns, no ammo really. The ship looked kind of vulnerable, unless there were some cleverly concealed guns in the hull.

They finally reached the top and he did a double take. Three guys and a girl were standing there. Well, if you could call the third guy a _guy_.

"I am beyond being shocked anymore," Crystal muttered tonelessly as they stared at the potbellied satyr holding a baseball bat in one hand.

The satyr turned and raised the bat. "Intruders! YAH!" He ran at them screaming like a slightly overweight, wobbly banshee. Alex instinctively moved in front of Crystal and grabbed the incoming bat with an armoured hand, splintering the wood easily. He tossed the broken bat away. Not to be deterred, the satyr proceeded to attempt to head butt Alex in the stomach.

"Coach Hedge!" Hazel yelped, grabbing the satyr by the horns. "They aren't intruders! They're half-bloods!"

"I told you," one of the guys said. Alex thought he looked kind of like a Mexican Santa's Little Helper. His voice matched the one that had come over the speaker. This must be Leo. "He's been like that since you left. Personally, I blame the coke. Someone left a can out."

The blonde guy turned and stared at them out of narrowed eyes. He reminded Alex of the traditional perfect boy image. Blonde hair, blue eyes, toned physique and commanding presence. "Who are you?" The other girl placed a hand on his arm. The hostility melted a bit, but he still glared at them with open suspicion.

"They are demigods," Hazel explained. "They were being chased by wild centaurs. Not the fun kind."

There went that word again, 'demigod'. "Yeah, don't want to come off sounding rude or anything," he stepped in. "But what the heck is a demigod?"

The other girl's eyes widened and she cocked her head slightly to the right. She was really pretty, even though it looked like she was trying hard not to be. Her hair was choppy and braided with white feathers. She wore a beat up jacket and a white shirt underneath and plain jeans.

Crystal beside him was still dressed in her, drying, school uniform. A fitted white, short sleeved, puff sleeved button shirt. Above it she wore a short black and blue plaid pinafore dress with a fitted bodice. With her short stature and large eyes, she looked like a very blank, but angry doll with a built in punch feature.

The girl spoke. "I'm Piper, and this is my boyfriend, Jason." She peered at them. "You really don't know what a demigod is?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking. And I still wanna ask, what were all those monsters? Why were they chasing us? Why is there a giant battleship parked in the Mediterranean Sea and why was he trying to head butt Crystal?" The questions poured out like a fountain.

He calmed down when said girl placed a hand on his upper arm. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and muttered an apology. "Sorry about that," Crystal said louder on his behalf. "But we really don't know what's going on and why those monsters kept calling us demigods or half-bloods."

"A demigod," Leo said in an all-knowing voice. "Is the offspring of a god and a human. Basically your parents got with one of the Greek gods and bam! You came out!"

Silence reigned, this one even more awkward. Alex stared at him incredulously. "You're kidding." Jason shrugged and folded his arms. "Okay, so you're _not_ kidding." He thought about his mom. His quiet, loving, strict, hardworking mom. "A god," he repeated just to be sure. "A _Greek_ god?"

"Well," Frank shrugged. "Technically, yes. But it could be the Roman or Greek aspect so there's a chance that your Greek parent could be either, for example, Aries or Mars!"

"I have a headache," Crystal murmured quietly. Piper gave a reassuring smile.

"Difficult to take in all at once huh?"

"More like impossible," she replied. "But I believe it. It explains so much…" her voice tailed off. There was silence, but she didn't seem to notice. Her expression was kind of sad.

"Well then!" Coach Hedge said, breaking the silence. "Since they aren't intruders, I'm hungry! Why don't we talk over dinner?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Crystal**

Once upon a time, approximately two hours, sixteen minutes and twelve seconds ago, she'd been normal. At least, she'd _felt _normal. More or less. At least she'd felt more normal than she did at that moment, sitting around a table with a megalomaniacal satyr downing large amounts of soda at an obscene rate beside her and yelling questions at Alex who looked kind of calm. He was tucking into the mega meat pizza that had magically appeared on the plate in front of him with his typical male gusto. She looked down at her own empty plate and tapped at the rim with a fingernail.

"You okay?" She turned. Leo was staring at her critically, like she was a fascinating experiment or machine whose kinks could be worked out by tapping the right spot with a hammer.

"Yeah," she replied. "Just a little…overwhelmed?" It came out more like a question. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how to feel. She was shocked, who wouldn't be? She was happy that she at least had an idea of why she'd never had a mother and had to be taken care of by her insanely giggly, flowery au pair, Maya for most of her life.

But she was also angry. Why hadn't she been told about this? What would have happened if she hadn't been able to take care of herself? What if one of those monsters had gotten her when she was younger? Then what?

"You should eat," Piper suggested to her. "The plates are magical. Just imagine what you want and it appears!"

She stared at the plate silently. A second later, there was a large helping of macaroni and cheese right in the middle. The steamy fragrance of hot, melted cheddar filled her nose and she couldn't help grinning. Food always made her feel better and her normal disposition was returning. "Did you design this?" She stared at Leo. He shrugged modestly. "Dude, this is amazing! I want one!"

Alex barked a laugh opposite her. "So what? You can eat more and get fat?" He teased. She paused, a forkful already halfway to her lips, and shot him a scowl. Then she stuffed the macaroni into her mouth.

"No thanks," she smiled sweetly when she'd swallowed. "I wouldn't want to end up looking like you would I?"

Leo and Hedge snorted and then slapped their hands over their mouths innocently. However, Coach Hedge had just taken a mouthful of soda. The sticky juice sprayed out of his mouth and onto Alex. "Hey!" He stood, shaking his arms and spraying soda. Hedge shrugged and wiped his mouth.

"Sorry."

Crystal attempted not to laugh but the grin on her face kind of betrayed her inner battle. Alex shot her a hostile glare and peeled off his shirt, revealing his white undershirt and large biceps. Piper and Hazel's eyes widened. Hazel averted her eyes and began to fan her face. Crystal, although her face was red, managed to not look too embarrassed or angry.

Jason, however, had no qualms about showing his anger when he saw his girlfriend blushing. "Hey, go put on a shirt or something!" He yelled.

"Would if I could," Alex retorted, holding the sticky soda stained shirt away from his body and grimacing. "But I don't have another shirt and this one's outta commission."

Crystal snorted under her breath. Here he was, acting like he didn't know how he was affecting everyone and taking his ego on a trip to the moon and back. He could be so selfish sometimes, she thought.

"There're some shirts in one of the rooms," Jason said, still scowling. Alex nodded and stood.

"Since I'm changing my shirt, shouldn't ya change as well?" He arched an eyebrow in Crystal's direction. Her eyes narrowed. "Ya uniform's dirty," he offered with a shrug.

She looked down at herself. He did have a point. Her uniform was rumpled from the fight and getting wet, and torn in some places. It was streaked with mud and dirt in other places as well. She looked like a refugee or a prisoner of war, but without the emaciated appearance.

"Whatever, okay," she stood. "Where's the room?" She asked.

Leo pointed to a corridor a little way to the left. "The first room on the right," he instructed.

"Thank you!" They walked into the corridor and pushed open the door. The room was small and dark, but only because the blinds on the window were drawn and closed. A thin bed stood in the corner and a wardrobe in the other. Apart from that, the room was empty.

She moved towards the wardrobe and pulled it open. Inside were a couple of orange and purple shirts. The orange had the words, Camp Half-Blood written on it while the purple had the words, Camp Jupiter. She held them both up. "Which one do you want?"

"Give me da purple one." He caught it and pulled it one over his undershirt. When he was done, he raised his eyebrows at her. "Ain'tcha gonna change then?"

"While you're here?" She snorted. "I don't think so."

"Aw, come on angel," he tipped up her chin and smirked at her, tugging her closer towards him until their faces were only a few inches apart.

Her face flushed. She'd never been this close to him before. Although, she supposed she should be used to this. He was always doing this, trying to kiss her after he overheard her telling some girls that she'd never been kissed before. Yet another reason she thought he was an egotistical jerk.

"Ya know, ya kinda cute when you blush like that…ow!"

"That's what you get for doing that!" She shoved his out of the room and grabbed the doorknob. "Now please go away!" She slammed the door shut and leaned against it, exhaling with a sigh. She could hear him chuckling on the other side and the sound made her want to kick him all over again. Stupid jerk.

She quickly pulled off her uniform and donned the Camp Half-Blood shirt along with a pair of blue-black jeans she found in the wardrobe. She hoped that whoever they belonged to wouldn't be too mad. Hopefully they'd belong to either Hazel or Piper. She liked them both, especially Hazel. The girl was kind of adorable, with her large eyes and cream brown skin.

When Crystal turned to leave, something crinkled under her feet. It was a photograph of a guy and a girl. The guy was good looking. He had black, windswept hair, sea-green eyes and a large troublemaker grin on his face. The girl had long, blonde hair and large, stormy grey eyes. She was also smiling. The guy's arm was around her shoulders, showing that they were probably a couple.

"We're moving out now." Leo said when she walked out. "We should get moving if we want to make it in time."

"Moving where?' She asked, looking at Hazel.

"Greece," Jason replied briefly before she could. "We have to make it there in a week."

"Why?" Alex asked, folding his arms. "What's in Greece?"

They all looked at each other, like they didn't want to tell them. The atmosphere suddenly felt heavy. Hedge nodded at Jason and the blonde sighed. "Gaea," he answered, though he still didn't look happy about it.

"And our friends," Piper murmured. The air turned heavier. Crystal bit her bottom lip nervously and frowned.

"Your friends," she began slowly. "Are these them?" She held up the picture. Piper started and then nodded.

"Yeah, where did you…?"

"I found the picture on the floor in the room," she replied, handing the photograph to Hazel. "Um, if you don't mind me asking…what happened to them?"

"It's a long story." She looked both sad and uncomfortable, and Crystal realized that she wouldn't and couldn't know right now. She and Alex had only just come aboard. They were more or less newbies. It would take a while before everyone else would trust them. Alex seemed to have come to the same conclusion because he didn't pursue the point angrily and demand to know. He just frowned. She smiled, so maybe he wasn't as stupid as she thought.

That night, after a heated discussion on where she was going to sleep, and some unwanted comments from Alex, she flopped down on a bed and closed her eyes with a quiet sigh. She could feel the ship rising up and down as they sailed. Her stomach heaved with the movements, but she found the sensation quite nice. She considered it odd that she actually enjoyed the feel of water bobbing underneath her when it made some people sick. She liked water.

Slowly, she drifted off. And then she had a strange dream.

In the dream, she was sitting in what seemed like a classroom. She was the only one there, save one woman perched on the desk in front of her. Her hair was blonde, like Crystal's, but her eyes weren't navy, they were grey. She was dressed in casual jeans and a fitted shirt and black boots. She immediately knew who the woman was. "Athena?"

The woman twitched, flickered. Her causal clothes changed to a white dress and then changed back. Athena looked affronted. "I'd prefer it if we didn't go by names. Trying to stay either Roman or Greek, it gives me such a splitting headache. Call me mom, or mother."

Crystal blinked. "What's going on?"

Athena, or Minerva as that was her Roman attribute, climbed off the desk and folded her arms. "What's going on, is that another prophecy has been called into play. One that wasn't supposed to come to pass for at least a couple more years," she smiled thinly. "And you're an important player."

_Prophecy you say? Another one? _"What do you mean another prophecy?"

Athena rolled her eyes. "You mean they haven't told you? Ugh, so mistrusting. This was why Annabeth was there, my daughter-" She suddenly stopped, as though what she had been about to say was too painful. Her face twisted slightly and she inhaled deeply, and then resumed her speech in a clipped voice. "The Prophecy of Seven."

_Why did I always assume Athena would have a British accent?_ A part of her was scanning the woman and making comparisons. "Why are you telling me this? And what exactly am I part of?"

Athena blinked, and then frowned. "I'll admit, I'm not exactly happy with it." She waved one hand and a strip of paper flew from under the stacks on the table and floated over to her. Crystal plucked it out of her air and read it.

_Scales of war are hard to find_

_Two must come and two must bind_

_Child of Shield and Child of Spear_

_Unleash a force of rage and fear_

_And so war's symbols, together come_

_Under Aphrodite's guiding dove_

She read it. And reread it. And then she looked up at Athena blankly. "I don't get it."

Athena huffed and snatched the paper out of her hands with a flick of her fingers. "And you're supposed to be my daughter?"

It suddenly made sense then. So much sense that she staggered backwards and fell onto one of the desks. "You're my mother?" She gaped. Athena arched an eyebrow like _yep!_ "Huh, so Leo was right." _Child of Shield, that probably means a child of Athena since her symbol is a shield with Medusa's head nailed in front. Child of Spear…_

"Children of Mars aren't one I like to mix with," Athena muttered to herself and swept a lock of hair out of her eyes. "And to have one of my own children end up with one? Well that's just terrible. I blame Aphrodite, always meddling. I already had to compromise with Poseidon's kid…"

Crystal had been debating the poem in her head, which suddenly snapped up when she heard what Athena was saying. "Hold on, hold on…_end up with_? I don't know any kids of Mars, or want to." She muttered the last part under her breath. "I especially don't want to end up with one! You mean like a couple? No way! Besides I don't know any." The war god? Yeah, Athena was a war goddess too, but at least she also presided over other stuff and did other things.

Athena laughed. "Of course you do. And he's quite a chip off the old block too. Loud, arrogant, egoistical…"

Crystal's face drained of colour and she resisted the urge to slam her face into the desk. Could you feel pain in dreams? _Alex? Him? _"Why me?"

Her mother put a hand on her shoulder. "Because you have my gift," she replied solemnly. "Take good care of it." _Take care of what? _Crystal wanted to scream. But the scene was shifting rapidly, and she was back in her room being thrown to the side of the room. Something crashed against the door of the ship and she scrambled to her feet.

_Gift mother?_ She thought scathingly, grabbing her knives and shoving the door of the room open. _Somehow, I'm not feeling the love._

**Butterfly-chan**


End file.
